Linearity

[Narcolepsy]

I've been seeing so many complaints about how linear Half-Life 2 is. Yet, I don't see it as a complaint at all - Valve is making sure that you're going to take the best and most cinematic path through their gameworld. With them directing the action, you can never get bored.

I realize many don't see it this way. So I made a poll.

 

[Jesus Lincoln]

Linear gameplay is just as fun as non

 

[slicktick]

I feel that the game is very linear, but the world is so detailed and there are alot of dead ends, and it makes me feel like there is alot to explore, so it doesnt feel too linear. I love this game!

 

[nagual678]

it's one of the most linear games i've ever played, but valve managed to make it feel not too bad.

 

[FortisVir]

The gameworld of HL2 is completely linear, and also, the game is much more scripted than I had originally anticipated.

Still an excellent game though.

 

[LittleB]

It's funny how almost equal people said it was linear and non-linear

 

[Megalomaniac]

Most FPS are Linear, it would be cool if you could do more, but the game is still #1

 

[LittleB]

I think this game would be way too hard if it was less linear. Like I got lost pretty easily in Ravenholm, the least linear part of the game.

 

[smeece85]

plus, isnt it only about as linear as hl1 an everyone is still complaining??

Just because gta is awesome doesnt mean nonlinear gameplay is the way to go....

 

[Phoenixs]

If the linearity is done well (Like in Hl2) it will work very well. The player will be drawn much more into the storyline. The game will most likely be more exiting too.

 

[WhiteZero]

IMO the game was very much linear, but really didnt feel linear at all. It always looked open, but the linear path blends into the enviroment very well, so it dosent really feel like your on a set path.

 

[Baal]

IMO the game was very much linear, but really didnt feel linear at all. It always looked open, but the linear path blends into the enviroment very well, so it dosent really feel like your on a set path.

I was going to make another post, but I realized it would say basicly the same thing. I agree completely.

 

[kaf11]

its linear in the best way possible. non linear gameplay is too overrated. playing through a game and knowing that youre missing out on 5 other options is frustrating. plus, the time it takes to make multiple paths/story lines lowers the overall quality in my experience. id rather play a game thats extremely well done and polished, such as hl2.

 

[nagual678]

its linear in the best way possible. non linear gameplay is too overrated. playing through a game and knowing that youre missing out on 5 other options is frustrating. plus, the time it takes to make multiple paths/story lines lowers the overall quality in my experience. id rather play a game thats extremely well done and polished, such as hl2.

in the end, if the game is good enough, having "missed" paths/options/choices is what will make you want to replay it differently.

also, non linear gameplay does not mean mediocre multiple options. play deus ex 1 if you haven't yet.

 

[Asuka]

Half-Life 2 is not too linear, and I like it.

 

[diluted]

Where's the option for "Half-Life 2 is linear, and I like it that way"? Seriously, what's wrong with linear gameplay? "Open-ended" gameplay (FarCry) is HIGHLY overrated.

 

[Grumpy]

Hmmm, plenty of stuff to find and tricks to do the next time One you master the jump off theback of the airboat there are a lot of surprises

 

[Narcolepsy]

Where's the option for "Half-Life 2 is linear, and I like it that way"? Seriously, what's wrong with linear gameplay? "Open-ended" gameplay (FarCry) is HIGHLY overrated.

If it's linear and you like it that way, it obviously isn't "too linear" so you choose option 2.

 

[siorai]

While the lineariity of HL2 isn't terrible since the rest of the game detracts from it, for me at least it makes it so that this can't really be the best game ever IMO. It might have been fine years ago to have a game that basically has a yellow line painted on the ground so you know where to go, but it's getting old now. I want options in how to play a game. Variety is the spice of life as they say and HL2 is definitely lacking that particular spice.

 

[PvtRyan]

I think it's funny when people call it the most linear game ever. What exactly makes HL2 more linear than other completely linear FPS games?

It's simply a linear game like most other FPS are, with added freedom of physics. No less non-linear than games like Doom 3 or Halo or HL1.

Variety is the spice of life as they say and HL2 is definitely lacking that particular spice.

Hmm... kay.. so you've got chased around rooftops, raced through the canals with a hovercraft, fought your way through an alien infested town with physics, drove a dune buggy along a coast where you fought antlions, combine troops, flying gunships and used physics to avoid the sand, and then you've lead an army of antlions across a beach into an enemy fortification, where you used antlions and turrets to take out the enemy, after which you lead a rebel assault in the city where you dealt with snipers, mines and elite troops and after that lots of huge Striders and then to enter the giant Citadel where you became some half-god with a super weapon, and you find the amount of variety lacking? I see your point.

You wanted Freeman to be able to get haircuts , tattoo's, to eat and exercise? Ah I see how that would have contributed to the gameplay.

People, non-linearity belongs in some games like GTA or Morrowind, but the HL games do NOT belong there. It's as simple as that.

 

[Narcolepsy]

I think it's funny when people call it the most linear game ever. What exactly makes HL2 more linear than other completely linear FPS games?

It's simply a linear game like most other FPS are, with added freedom of physics. No less non-linear than games like Doom 3 or Halo or HL1.

Hmm... kay.. so you've got chased around rooftops, raced through the canals with a hovercraft, fought your way through an alien infested town with physics, drove a dune buggy along a coast where you fought antlions, combine troops, flying gunships and used physics to avoid the sand, and then you've lead an army of antlions across a beach into an enemy fortification, where you used antlions and turrets to take out the enemy, after which you lead a rebel assault in the city where you dealt with snipers, mines and elite troops and after that lots of huge Striders and then to enter the giant Citadel where you became some half-god with a super weapon, and you find the amount of variety lacking? I see your point.

You wanted Freeman to be able to get haircuts , tattoo's, to eat and exercise? Ah I see how that would have contributed to the gameplay.

People, non-linearity belongs in some games like GTA or Morrowind, but the HL games do NOT belong there. It's as simple as that.

Amen to that.

 

[Pulsar]

original HL was better with puzzles and "timed" actions. HL2 is boring in the first part and linearity is worst felt here, but intense action in Nova Prospekt and after makes you forget about the linearity.

Anyway, in HL1 a lot more was depended on Gordon.
But I agree that in HL2, Gordon is figthing an empire and can't really change much and dictate his will.

 

[KagePrototype]

If I wanted a less-linear FPS, I'd play Far Cry or Battlefield. I can't see how they could have pulled off all the dramatic, memorable scenes so well in HL2 without making it all pre-scripted. Though I'm hoping games like Brothers In Arms and F.E.A.R will fix this.

 

[PlayingMantis]

in the end, if the game is good enough, having "missed" paths/options/choices is what will make you want to replay it differently.

also, non linear gameplay does not mean mediocre multiple options. play deus ex 1 if you haven't yet.

I concur.

 

[HadouKen24]

Non-linearity does not make a game good.

Linearity does not make a game bad.

There are different criteria that go into making a good linear game rather than a good non-linear game. Some people prefer one to the other. But the games themselves are not better or worse simply because of which one the designers have chosen.

 

[moocher]

There are different criteria that go into making a good linear game rather than a good non-linear game. Some people prefer one to the other. But the games themselves are not better or worse simply because of which one the designers have chosen.

Yep, it comes down to what the fans are expecting and what people consider fun. For me, being told what to do and where to go is not fun. A big environment with multiple solutions where I have to "think on my feet" is very fun. In other words: instead of giving me the task, give me the mission. As in: "There's a team of terrorists in that building. Bring back their leader alive." (DX1) Not: "Go down this alley, turn the valve. Go down that next alley, turn the switch."

Considering the talent and expertise of Valve, I think they could come up with the most open and amazing gameplay ever seen.

 

[Dasparov]

k im sick of the word lineal now -_-, PvTRyan and a few others have summed up what i have thought =]

 

[Narcolepsy]

k im sick of the word lineal now -_-, PvTRyan and a few others have summed up what i have thought =]

It is my hope that people will become so sick of this topic that no one will EVER complain of Half-Life 2 being too linear again!

 

[CyberPitz]

I think it's funny when people call it the most linear game ever. What exactly makes HL2 more linear than other completely linear FPS games?

It's simply a linear game like most other FPS are, with added freedom of physics. No less non-linear than games like Doom 3 or Halo or HL1.



Hmm... kay.. so you've got chased around rooftops, raced through the canals with a hovercraft, fought your way through an alien infested town with physics, drove a dune buggy along a coast where you fought antlions, combine troops, flying gunships and used physics to avoid the sand, and then you've lead an army of antlions across a beach into an enemy fortification, where you used antlions and turrets to take out the enemy, after which you lead a rebel assault in the city where you dealt with snipers, mines and elite troops and after that lots of huge Striders and then to enter the giant Citadel where you became some half-god with a super weapon, and you find the amount of variety lacking? I see your point.

You wanted Freeman to be able to get haircuts , tattoo's, to eat and exercise? Ah I see how that would have contributed to the gameplay.

People, non-linearity belongs in some games like GTA or Morrowind, but the HL games do NOT belong there. It's as simple as that.

Quoted For Truth

 

[nagual678]

Hmm... kay.. so you've got chased around rooftops, raced through the canals with a hovercraft, fought your way through an alien infested town with physics, drove a dune buggy along a coast where you fought antlions, combine troops, flying gunships and used physics to avoid the sand, and then you've lead an army of antlions across a beach into an enemy fortification, where you used antlions and turrets to take out the enemy, after which you lead a rebel assault in the city where you dealt with snipers, mines and elite troops and after that lots of huge Striders and then to enter the giant Citadel where you became some half-god with a super weapon, and you find the amount of variety lacking? I see your point.

You wanted Freeman to be able to get haircuts , tattoo's, to eat and exercise? Ah I see how that would have contributed to the gameplay.

as shiny as this argument may be, this has nothing whatsoever to do with linearity ?

 

[PvtRyan]

as shiny as this argument may be, this has nothing whatsoever to do with linearity ?

Indeed not. But it wasn't me who brought up variety. He must think that variety is something non-present in linear games.

 

[Mountain Man]

The whole "linear vs. non-linear" debate is pointless. What really matters is whether or not the game is entertaining. For instance, Far Cry is arguably non-linear, but I didn't find it all that fun to play. Half-Life 2 is more linear but it is considerably more entertaining.

 

[miked4o7]

The level design in Half-life 2 is extremely linear, but it's intentionally linear for a very good reason... pacing. As you open up level design, you have to sacrifice the ability as a developer to control the pacing of the game and you put it in the player's hands instead. Now if you're main goal in developing a game is to create a virtual world for players to explore in, then that's what you do... but if you're goal is to weave a tight narrative with very specific "scenes", then you do as valve did, and did perfectly. Gabe Newell has a quote in the forward of Raising the Bar that sums up what kind of design valve goes for.

"A single player game is really a movie that you create in cooperation with the player, where the lead actor doesn't have a copy of the script"

The movie is all laid out for you, you as the player, play it. It may not be everyone's preference for a style of game to play, but it's not like the linearity of hl2 is unintentional.

 

[Steve]

Linearity


You made that word up, didn't you?

 

[Marius]

I thought the fact that the game is linear was the whole point! There are too many games that just plop you in at some random point on each level, sometimes that can hinder the continuity of the story.

The linearity in Half-Life and Half-Life 2 sets them apart from all the other games, as when you get to the end you feel like you really have played through, and you scratch your head wondering how you got that far from stepping off the train with nothing.

 

[J_Tweedy]

i don't know of any really non-linear fps. they would be pretty damn hard to make, as each choice/ different path would be a new game to be made. The best way seems to me to make a game just feel like you have a choice, but that can bake ur noodle if you feel like you shouldve gone another way.

 

[Operator]

in the end, if the game is good enough, having "missed" paths/options/choices is what will make you want to replay it differently.

also, non linear gameplay does not mean mediocre multiple options. play deus ex 1 if you haven't yet.

OMG Deus Ex is one of my most favorite games of all time. Such a fun game and just.... goodness all over it. Saddly they made poop and stuck a good name on it for Deus Ex:IW HL2, in its linear state has the story, and thats all that really matters, if theres a good story to keep you involved and drawn in to
want to know what happens next then it can be a very linear game yet be extremely fun. :cheers: (i just like that smilie)

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Although I liked it, I got to say, it was too linear. Early last year, valve mentioned that there might be three ways of completing an objective or something, i.e start from point A and finish at point B, but either taking route A, B or C, possibly with varying difficulty.

 

[Narcolepsy]

Linearity


You made that word up, didn't you?

I thought I made it up at first, but then I looked it up in the dictionary!

linear

lin·e·ar [línnee ?r] adjective
1.relating to lines: relating to, consisting of, or using lines
2.relating to a straight line: relating to a straight line or capable of being represented by a straight line
3.changing proportionally: changing proportionally and representable on a graph as a straight line (refers to variables)
•There’s no linear relation between mortality and size.
4.unimaginative: developed sequentially from the obvious without in-depth understanding
•takes a somewhat linear approach to the problem
5.ARTS with clearly defined lines: dominated by clearly defined lines rather than relying on the effects of color
6.MATHEMATICS of the first degree: about or in the first degree relative to a mathematical variable
7.ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING with output varying as input does: with an output that varies directly with the input
8.BOTANY long and narrow: used to describe a leaf that is long and narrow

—lin·e·ar·i·ty [lìnnee áir?tee], noun
—lin·e·ar·ly, adverb

Encarta® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1999,2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

 

[Dasparov]

I thought I made it up at first, but then I looked it up in the dictionary!

so did i :frog: